Make friends with oil
Choose heart-healthy olive oil instead of butter or vegetable oil. “Use olive oil in salad dressings, when cooking fish and poultry, and to dip bread in it instead of spreading on butter or margarine,” says Jennifer Glockner, a registered dietitian nutritionist based in the Los Angeles area. “Try using olive oil in egg or tuna salads instead of using mayo. Add olives to salads or sandwiches.”
Rebecca Lewis, in-house registered dietitian at HelloFresh, recommends swapping butter, an animal-based saturated fat that’s been associated with increased heart disease risk, for olive oil, which is a plant-based unsaturated fat that’s been linked with decreased heart disease risk. “Just remember that oils have a smoke pointthe temperature at which they burn and lose their healthful properties,” cautions Lewis. “Extra-virgin oil has the lowest of all smoke points and thus burns the easiest. So when cooking, choose regular olive oil, which has a higher smoke point.”
